NOTE (added May 25): Welcome Daily Kos readers! Thanks for stopping by. As I've said before, thoughtful comments from any political perspective are always welcome here. This blog is not meant to be an echo chamber.

Newsweek's false, retracted story about American guards flushing the Koran down a toilet at Guantanamo doesn't necessarily mean the magazine's staff hates America or Bush, or wants us to lose in Iraq. To be charitable, let's just chalk that one up to sloppy journalism.

But I'm at a loss to explain this, from the February 2 issue of Newsweek's Japanese edition:

As you can see, the cover story shows an American flag, dirtied and tossed in a trash can, its staff snapped in two. The large white text reads, "Amerika ga shinda hi", which translates to "The day America died."

The equivalent international edition of Newsweek, the January 31 issue, featured a picture of Bush on the cover, with the caption "America Leads ...But is Anyone Following?":

Both of the above editions featured a cover-story article by Andrew Moravcsik, titled "Dream on, America". (This was translated into Japanese as "Yume no kuni Amerika ga kuchihateru toki", which is even harsher; it means, roughly, "America, the dream country, is rotting away".) According to Newsweek itself, the article described "the world's rejection of the American way of life."

Moravcsik's article did not run in the American edition of that same issue. The cover was also a bit different. It featured Hilary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Foxx, with the title "Oscar Confidential":

If you look carefully, you'll see that one of the articles from the other two editions is mentioned in a small blurb at the top: Fareed Zakaria's "High Hopes, Hard Facts"  here billed as "A reality check on Bush & 'Freedom'". Sure, they put scare quotes around "Freedom", but pretty tame stuff, all things considered.

It's one thing for Newsweek to actively promote the notion that America is a "dead", "rotting" country overseas. But it's quite another thing indeed to hide those efforts from its American readers. If Newsweek really thinks America is dead, and our flag belongs in the trash, why won't it tell us?

If I were to offer Newsweek a suggestion, it would be this: Any story or cover you're ashamed to run in America probably shouldn't be used in other countries, either.

ANOTHER FOLLOW-UP: Watch out  Lileks is on the case. But he's giving Newsweek a one-day headstart.

YET ANOTHER FOLLOW-UP: More photoshopping, as Rick Adams has created an image of the Japanese Newsweek cover with the headlines translated into English. (Found via LGF.)

AND ONE MORE FOLLOW-UP:Reader Tokyo Tom points out that the Moravcsik article Newsweek wouldn't print in America is available on the MSNBC-Newsweek International website here.

Monday, May 23
Posted by
Sam

145
comments:

Anonymous
said...

Newsweek story right on point, and good to have here in River City. Sounds like the old urban legend of Japanese who "just know" that it is not possible for foreigners to speak their language - and seem offended when someone does. Wonder if nwk has fallen into the same logical trap.

Stay engaged wherever you go for the next act of the Quest, since more pairs of eyes are always a welcome check on what is in dead-tree media and flowing from the tube.

the news media is only out to sell their stories,the dollar is the bottom line,they suck up to these others countrys becouse they think they are reporting what these people want to hear.It's only becouse of all the blood that was shed to keep america FREE that this type of business can spread their views,not news.

Oh, so Newsweek shouldn't write stories critical of America in foriegn countries. They should just be a propaganda rag for the US and try to present our viewpoint to the world. Get real, slappy! That's not what journalism is about.

I wonder if the folks at NEWSWEEK have figured out that far from being broken, Japan, the US, Australia, South Korea and even Taiwan (psst, it's a 'secret) are entering into an entirely new round of diplomatic and military exchanges because of things like missiles pointed at various island nations.

Just check out "Boei's" guest roster at Japan's Defense Agency home page where you will find ... screen shots of many movers and shakers.

http://www.jda.go.jp/e/index_.htm (Sorry, I can't quite make the link tune in.)

To the anonymous commentor who suggested that criticism of differing covers is an attempt to neuter criticism of the US by Newsweek, it is not, or at least it seems not. I wouldn't have any problem of the flag in the trash can if the situation in our country was best represented by our flag in the trash. Media criticism is a crucial feedback loop in our society and though I hope it wouldn't be necessary, shocking images may some day save the republic from destroying itself.

The problem is that Newsweek doesn't have the courage of its convictions to actually criticize as a friend would, to the face. It criticizes behind the subject's back, speaking to others alone. That is neither friendly, nor particularly loyal.

"Oh, so Newsweek shouldn't write stories critical of America in foriegn countries. They should just be a propaganda rag for the US and try to present our viewpoint to the world. Get real, slappy! That's not what journalism is about. "

No, the issue isn't Newsweek's printing of articles or covers critical of the United States in foreign nations. The issue is Newsweek's duplicity in printing those articles and covers in foreign nations while hiding that fact from Americans.

CNN's international broadcasts are notorious for these sorts of two-faced representations as well. America is always in decline, a country full of white trash evangelical hysterics who can't fathom the grace and sophistication of our european betters.

AMEN! As we used to say on the farm..."If you can't say something nice about someone...don't say anything at all." and I'd add to that...for sure don't damn them with faint praise or phony empathy for the declining American society. Stand up and honestly point out where the errors are...without bombast or provocative rhetoric. This is stabbing America in the back on a foreign shore in another language with the arrogance to assume that American's are so lazy or indifferent they either won't know or if they do, won't care. It says a LOT about the EDITORIAL PHILOSOPHY at Newsweak!

Oh, so Newsweek shouldn't write stories critical of America in foriegn countries. They should just be a propaganda rag for the US and try to present our viewpoint to the world. Get real, slappy! That's not what journalism is about.

No, anonymous, the problem is that Newsweek either doesn't have the balls to run that cover in the US, or they're pandering to the local anti-American sentiment. Either way, they're pompous phonies.

The funny part about all this is that they are doing it on Japan. Exactly twenty years ago we heard how Japan was going to supplant the US in every way and the nation of immigrants was going to be laid on the trash heap of history by the rising sun. well, we are still here -- and the Japanese know it better than anybody.

Q. If the U.S. is so terrible, why are people from all over the globe trying to get past our borders? Why are people risking death in shark infested waters coming here on rafts made of oil drums from Haiti and Cuba? Why do Mexicans risk their lives crossing the border on foot? Why do Chinese allow themelves to be stuffed into container ships just to get the chance of a life here? Ditto for every other country in the world. Even the Swedes who already live in paradise want to come here to make something other than useless check collectors of themselves.

A. Most people who have a working brain know these hate America media types are lying. It's easy to behave atrociously when you know your rights are protected.

One point is that this is no doubt a vague puff piece with no real information content. I've read many such articles. The author spends no time researching or reporting - he just gloats over a supposed snub here, an opinion poll there - it's gossip and backbiting not information.

I'm not sure what our response should be to something so immature.

I think it's not out of line to offended by articles who's only intent is to insult.

I don't know how to do trackbacks, but I did a translation of the feature stories and their summaries for that newsweek, and posted it on my blog, which you should be able to get to by clicking on my name if it interests you.If I screw up the URL, it's freedomsforce.blogspot.com

Hmmm... I suppose I'd respond this way: this Japanese edition cover pretty much wraps up any anti-bias argument a "intellectual leftist" could mount. As noted by previous commenters it speaks to the cowardice and desire Newsweek harbors... too chicken to print it in America, but wishing they could! Kind of the puerile under-the-breath mumble "yeah, you'd BETTER walk away, or I'd kick your ass." So let's go whole hog on the foreign edition... no one will see it. It pisses me off for too reasons: 1) This is the MSM that begs to be trusted, but can't hide it's hate for America long enough to do it, and 2) it's lazy. Interesting to see if there are riots and killings in America as news of this crap spreads. As abhorrent as most Americans will find this image (outside of faculty lounges and gourmet coffee shops) we won't respond in violence. It's called "civilization"... it would be nice if parts of the world would try it.

Newsweek might be trash talking America but it has not put any kind of dent in the number of people over there who are scrambling to get here by applying for visas or risking their lives as stowaways in freight containers and trailer trucks or by attempting dangerous nighttime border crossings.

Watch Newsweek get increasingly desperate as the market for conventional print journalism in the US continues to shrink and publications go under.

In case anyone cares, the subtitle on the Newsweek cover reads "Ideal of 'freedom' falls to earth with Bush's re-election".I wish I could announce that I will boycott Newsweek but I have been boycotting that rag for years.

Something to keep in mind is that Newsweek's behavior hasn't occurred in a vacuum. Anti-Americanism is de-rigeur among your elites. It is effectively a status symbol. I can honestly say that I have never encountered a culture of people who are so reflexively hostile to their own countrymen. But I do not think that it is appropriate to declare that this elite is anti-American. They are anti-Americans - it is not the government that they hate as much as the people. It is my perception that they have a deep disdain for those who are not of their caste and they are very frightened by them. Ironically this perspective derives from the same parochialism that the elite is so fond of attributing to other Americans. They have a very shallow, childrens story, view of the world which is frankly a bit racist. All other cultures are either wise angels or primitive children, nothing in between.

I wish you luck in overthrowing the MSM, just make sure that you replace it with something better not just more reactionary institutions.

To the Anonymous who doesn't see the big deal with shoving an American flag in the trash, how about the fact that is extremely disengenuous.

It is an article of faith in the MSN that Bush's foreign policy is alienating the world against us, and their evidence is the fact that the world community seems hostile. But Newseek's actions are a contributing cause of that hostility (See! Of course the Americans are horrible! Even their own papers say so!). Then, when the hostility manifests itself in anti-US protests, does Newsweek inform its readers that their coverage may have played a role in that hostility? Of course not -- unless they get stuck passing off inaccurate information, like last week.

Keep up the good work. I wouldn't be surprised if this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The cover image is extremely offensive to anyone who has a sense of history and the sacrifice of American servicemen. About as offensive as putting a Koran into a toilet might be to a Muslim. I hope millions of Americans see this.

It seems obvious that Newsweak is not anti-war, it's anti-American.

About the article and cover headlines: If the article was translated from English, the anger about the extreme bias should be directed at the Japanese staff who did the translation. And, indeed, those cover headlines are so biased as to be pathetic.

How much editorial and artistic control does the home office of Newsweak have over the overseas editions? How independent are they? Arnold DeBorgrave (sp?) was top editor of the international edition at one time long ago, I recall.

I can honestly say that I have never encountered a culture of people who are so reflexively hostile to their own countrymen.

Perhaps, but such cultures have existed in history: Greece, Rome, the Muslim empire, China, all collapsed because their elites became so ennervated that they stopped believing in the values that made them great in the first place. They were unwilling to fight to save something they no longer believed in. It doesn't take long for that attitude to filter down. And it isn't hard to explain why they hate they're own countrymen: we STILL believe in the values that made us great, hence we're stupid, backward, etc., etc.

You guys missed the point - the editor of Newsweek is Fareed Zakaria - an Indian Muslim. This is something that has been surprising us (Indians) for a lomg time - how come the Americans have not figured this out? This guy speaks out of both sides of his mouth. The Zakaria family are known jihadi supporters

WOW! I just checked out the International Edition of Newsweek online. For their multimedia content on the international edition homepage, their longing for bad news still has them linking to stunningly tragic photos from the January 18th shooting of civilian Iraqis who were killed as they continued to approach a roadblock after failing to heed calls to stop the vehicle.

See below - and follow the link. Maybe their multimedia editor has been on extended hiatus that he hasn't found anything worthy of posting since Jan 18?

PHOTO GALLERY WITH AUDIO

Instantly Orphaned• A photographer witnesses the devastating aftermath of six Iraqi children whose parents were shot before their eyes by U.S. troops

``It's one thing for Newsweek to actively promote the notion that America is a "dead", "rotting" country overseas. But it's quite another thing indeed to hide those efforts from its American readers. If Newsweek really thinks America is dead, and our flag belongs in the trash, why won't it tell us? If I were to offer Newsweek a suggestion, it would be this: Any story or cover you're ashamed to run in America probably shouldn't be used in other countries, either.''

Unlike Newsweek, apparently, Gaijin Biker, and every severely non-elite self-victimologist with Internet access, is entitled to an opinion. I wonder where we get the idea that Newsweek was "ashamed" to print the story in America. If they were objective, or "America haters,'' the term here, apparently, for people who don't feel like celebrating war propaganda, why would they be ``ashamed?''

Rather, Newsweek was AFRAID, or COWED or BROWBEATEN, into running the story only in its international edition. And that reeks of the ratcheting claims against press freedom that are emerging from the Bush administration.

Shame is the perfect word for the fact that Newsweek didn't have the simple courage to tell the Bush administration to stick it over the Koran story, and, likewise, it's pathetic that somebody over there at WashPost Inc. didn't like the piece about the historic plummet in global support for the U.S. What is worse: what that says about Newsweek's owners, what it says about the effect the Bush administration is having on the press, or what it says about America?

Remember, on the flushed Koran: the story was sourced from inside the government and vetted by the Defense Department. The International Red Cross, both before and AFTER the Newsweek story reported Koran abuse allegations, as did Human Rights Watch. Only AFTER the riots in Pakistan did Newsweek's government source retract and the White House started making noises that sound like fascism. When the White House has its people saying "Watch what you say" it's time to watch what they're saying and cram the Constitution right down their flabby, fear-mongering throats.

I love America, but hate the Bush administration, though I only wish I were elite. It's hilarious that this Fox/RNC talking point (the elite hate America) has metastasized so mindlessly through their devotees to the point where elite is used as an unchallenged epithet.

American Heritage : or elite n. A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status.

Should it be a surprise that people of superior intellectual standing oppose a president who boasts that he doesn't read the newspaper? It makes perfect sense to me that the better educated, upwardly mobile, successful people in America--the elite--would be more likely to see through the propaganda barrage the Bush administration puts out about the war in Iraq, Medicare costs, social security and so many other issues.

One question they always forget to ask on Fox: How did the elite get that way? Did they jail all the right-wingers?--uh, no, it was left-wingers who were jailed during the cold war. Did they steal or cheat their way to top of the Washington Post, et.al? Uh, no, the folks at Enron, Worldcom, etc. are not out there leading anti-war rallies (though there is an significant level of support on Wall Street, of all places, for dumping Bush.) Did the elite shut down the right-wing press and academia by fiat? No: the elite earned their way, in the finest tradition of American intellectual, academic and economic freedom. It's a real laugh to see so many right wingers constantly whining, claiming victimhood as if they don't already own enough of the press and academia.

If WashPost and NY Times, etc. are too biased, why do so many people look there for news? What's wrong with the moonie's Washington Times and Murdoch's NY Post, etc. empire?? Why aren't they papers of record? The answer is obvious: WashPost, NYT and the network news are elite because they're smarter, as a group, and therefore produce a better news product day-in, day-out that the ideotainment balderdash that Sun Young Moon, Conrad Black, Rupert Murdoch and their ilk spend gazillions spreading. Aside from the few high-profile sell-outs and the inevitable ideologues, no journalist worthy of the name wants to work for Moon, Murdoch and their many and well-funded imitators.

Lastly, it is a sad day when an American gives his flag the status of religious scripture. That must make bin Laden grin with satisfaction.

Indeed, bin Laden loves to see magazines like Newsweek that are afraid to print stories critical of their own government. He knows it will take a couple of generations of that kind of repressive atmosphere in the U.S. to destroy the U.S. He knows that strong countries aren't afraid to criticize themselves; weaks ones are terrified of exposures. So, yes, he's gotta love Newsweek...

and...on Planet Zach, at least bin Laden reads! Bush is aliterate, apparently, which is one reason he was ``certain'' there were WMDs in Iraq...nice going Mr. President. Wonder WHEN Bush stopped reading the newspaper, or if he's just a life-long aliterate...

Thank you for posting this information. I do believe that Newsweek's Editor, Fareed Zakaria, is going to be taking a lot of flack from the blogosphere in the coming days. What a shame that the MSM will hide their eyes from the entire fiasco.

Unfortunately many bloggers are professed journalists. It's just been shown how people of the press are vultures and scavangers. The blogging world hangs by a delicate thread manipulated by a weak government. The leftist moguls of the newspaper industry are not easily defeated. The government will be manipulated by the moguls, the string will be cut, the laws regarding the Freedom of the Press (a license to lie) will be manipulated by Congress to the benifit of the moguls.

It will take a while...but the blogging world will cease and the evil newspaper empires will be back, totally, with it's sinful propaganda.

Well, the trolls have arrived... "I love America but hate the Bush Administration". Get a life. Moral relativism is crap... you know it, I know it, we all know it. "Bloggers are manipulated"... by whom? Karl Rove? Is that the name you're looking for? Are you that blind to what the MSM elitists are doing that you have to scramble for something, anything to darken America and say, "See? It was a fake story, but considering this OTHER thing, it's accurate!" So, that's what Dan Rather is doing now! Writing in blog comments! Here's an interesting thought, and I didn't originate it, but it's a nice litmus test: the MSM screws up on stories about how the evil military treats the holy Muslim warriors... repeatedly, lately, in an all out media offense to lessen damage to one of their own (Newsweek)... so, how many times does the MSM have to make corrections about fake reporting on how GOOD our military is? Uh, can you THINK of one instance? I'm sure you can't. Man, I don't believe the MSM collectively... am I paranoid OR have they demonstrated, again and again, their willingness to lie and misrepresent to further their agenda? Burn me once, shame on you... burn me twice, shame on me.

I dare Newsweek to have the same American flag in the trashcan frontcover in the US edition EVER. These people, so call the MSM, are the real enemies in this new century. Too bad the 9/11 flights hit the wrong building and kill the wrong people.

Why don't the MSM ask the right questions? Why don't Americans go on riot and kill each other when someone pee on the Bible? Burn the Bible? or Flush the Bible down the toilet? What kind of industrial strength toilets out there can handle a Quoran down the tube? What's the difference between us and these people went on the streets rioting and killing themselves? The MSM kept on saying we, the Americans, are to blame for all these tensions. Why not ask the question - why are those Muslims kill each other and go on riots when someone pee on their holy book while Christians and Jews don't do the same? Why?

Three things that are obvious about Newsweek Japan.They hate Bush-supporting America.They love to put down Japan. They love China.All stories seem to be selected and translated/written according to these 3 principles. They've proven themselves pretty consistent at this. And the NWJ staff seem to lack research skills required for credible journalism. I've long stopped taking them seriously.

Oh, so saying America died, because the eletion didn't go your way is 'criticism'? Freedom is dead in America, because Bush was elected (not re-elected probably by vote fraud in Ohio).

This kind of crap isn't criticism, it's moonbatery of the mooreish sort. We need and deserve honest criticism of policy, but that takes love of country first, and it takes a burning desire to get the facts right second, and it takes a willingness to be fair and balanced.

Newsweek does none of the above. It's contempt for America and Americans (it's customers?) leaks through in the US edition and screams Chimpybushmchitler from it's international editions. Newsweek International will next cover how the Jews didn't go to work on 9/11 and the CIA/Mossad is behind the attack. Hell, Howard Dean is just a step ahead of them, it's not proven Bin Laden had anything to do with 9/11.

Any of you flag-waving first amendment afficionados actually take the time to read the news article?

Wake up kids, its not about ideology, its about money. The simple fact is that a cover article on the oscars (the FREAKING OSCARS!!!) generates more magazine sales and interest in this country than discussion about the world's diminished perception of America as the exemplar of all-that-is-good in this world. This is a serious issue and central to winning the war on terror. The lack of introspection, or even concern, my friends, is what is most sad.

As for those anonymous cowards on this talkback suggesting that the 9/11 terrorist scum should have aimed for the Newsweek, NYT, TIME buildings, I give you a big ole American redwhite and blue, flag waving, mom and apple-pie-eating middle finger. You should be ashamed.

I will not be renewing my subscription to Newsweek. They don't have the courage to criticize the "greatest country" in the world in their American edition, but do it in foreign countries. My only advice to the rest of the world, if it weren't for the USA, you'd be speaking either German or Russian today. To the French...piss on you!

The way I see it, part of the story is an error, and since it is the most sensational part, it is what everyone is focusing on.

But there is another part to this, and that part is an outright lie by Newsweek. The original story was attributed to sources (plural). But as we now know, there never were sources. There was A SOURCE (singular.) Newsweek knew that, and chose to lie about it.

1) The Defense Department did not "vet" the Newsweek allegation. Newsweek faxed a copy of the report to DoD staff and when they didn't recieve an immediate denial of the story they took it as confirmation. Which is shoddy and dis-honest jounalism. The DoD, not being shoddy and dishonest couldn't very well issue a denial or confirmation without first a) researching the report the claims were based upon and b) conducting some sort of investigation to determine if there was any veracity to it.... now could they?

The DoD did, apparently, issue a directive to it's own personnel about being more sensitive in handling the Koran. Apparently the main complaint that the DoD did acknowledge was factual was that non-muslim guards were allowed to handle the Koran in distributing it to inmates. Apparently, this offended the sensibilities of some of the inmates as they fealt that non-believers being allowed to touch the holly book was an act of descecration.

2) The source inside the government that Newsweek was using for the story was an anonymous source. That means that we have only the word of Newsweeks reporter that the source even exists....and we have only the word of newsweeks reporter to judge how credible the source is. While there certainly ARE valid reasons why whistle-blowers won't go on record when acting as sources for the media.... there also have been well documented cases of reporters fabricating such anonymous sources (and the information they "provided") from whole cloth. Without the source going on record in this case, we simply don't have any way of knowing. That is generaly why it is the rule in jounalism that an anonymous source cannot be used unless the information can be independantly verified.

Furthermore, this anonymous source has now purportedly re-canted part of thier story. Saying that they were wrong when alleging that they read the Koran flushing inicident about a particular instutition in a particular set of reports...but that they do remember reading about it "some report" ....they just don't happen to remember what the report was or any other information that might help identify the particular report....which strikes me as a rather convenient.

3) The International Red Cross and Human Rights Watch are both using the same source. This is a claim made by a group of former inmates who are currently engaged in a lawsuit against the government. Note, that neither International Red Cross nor Human Rights Watch will tell you that they can establish the varacity of such claims (nor should they reasonably be expected to) simply that such claims have been reported to them. That is the journalistic equivalent of saying "Johnnie Cochran confirms O.J. claims innocence". I'd hardly call that "vetting" myself but you are free to.

Note that none of this is determinstic one way or another about whether an incident actualy took place. Given the actions carried out by many Islamic terrorists in this WAR.... I would think it would constitute a super-human effort of discpline by our soldiers NOT to want to piss on the Koran in frontof them..... I know I would be sorely tempted. But that is beside the point.

The point is about journalistic integrity. Which Newsweek sorely lacks. If Newsweek has been "brow-beaten" it is not the Bush administration who is responsible for it....but the American public, which is finally beginning to assert that the rightfull role of journalism is to publish FACT... not rumor, innuendo, sensationalism or opinion masqueraded as fact. Newsweek does, in fact, have a right to publish anything they want (a right many Americans have died to defend).....just as the American public has a right to not purchase a shoddy, sensationalistic piece of trash like Newsweek. I can guarantee one thing though.... 17 people in this country won't be killed in riots over our symbol being desecrated..... civilized people actualy happen to believe in the freedom of expression (including desecration of symbols).

Thanks BunkerBuster for giving us the very DEFINITION of elite:"Should it be a surprise that people of superior intellectual standing oppose a president who boasts that he doesn't read the newspaper? It makes perfect sense to me that the better educated, upwardly mobile, successful people in America--the elite--would be more likely to see through the propaganda barrage the Bush administration puts out about the war in Iraq, Medicare costs, social security and so many other issues."

Having PhDs and even being smart doesn't free ANYONE from intellectual blind spots. Academia has a culture too and it is established fact that this culture is HOSTILE to American Constitutional values. You'd be an ignormaus too if your very livelyhood depended on how closely you followed the party line of the ELITE. Stop pretending that these institutions are FREE and unbiased and only concerned with open inquiry. They have an agenda. Thank God for the Moons and the Murdocks and (mostly) for blogging.

The traditional mainstream media in this country is not in the business of reporting the news. They are in the business of creating and manipulating public opinion. They believe that their job is to define big government initiatives (that usually supports the Democrats) so that the "right" policies (defined by them) are implemented. Consider the NY Times portrayal of the Global Warming issue. They will only print "studies" that support the hysteria and will almost never print stories critical of the hype.

Don't believe me, do your own research to find out the truth. And don't believe any media source. Remember that journalism is an easy college degree.

Since we have moved to the Koran story a bit, can anyone remember what NewsWeek had to say about the palestinians in the Church of the Nativity a few years back (April 2002??) when they held it for almost 40 days? Does anyone even remember when they moved in and took over the church and stole anything that looked like it could be made of gold, regardless of the religious significance - they purportedly used bibles as toilet paper - they consumed the sacramental wine - regardless of the Islamic ban on alcohol.

What did NewsWeek have to say about it?

How many Arab/Islamic leaders spoke out against the desecration - None.

I am sorry, whether the Koran story is true or not is really irrelevant to me in the greater scheme of things - there are going to be certain abuses, what is important is that they not be allowed to become institutionalized - other than that, I would like to see some sort of fair representation of the truth as opposed to "right wing" or "liberal" bias everywhere.

The media no longer has a mission of truth or fact, now they all seem to have their own version of what they wish to see happen and slant their reporting in a fashion to support their desired outcomes or preconceived notions.

I agree with whoever said "it's all about money". Although in the past, these people probably would have been brought up on treason charges, today's society let's stuff like this slide by. Almost makes you wonder who counts their blessings anymore.

I've found the Newsweek article by Andrew Moravcsik which Newsweek HID from American readers by omitting it from its US domestic edition but printing it in its International edition (January 31, 2005 issue) as "Dream On America" http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6857387/site/newsweek/ and in its Japanese edition as "The Day America Died."

The article quotes Bush's inaugural and says his words in it represent a "delusional" America. I.e., Newsweek does indeed regard the November 2004 election as the day that America died.

It quotes (25 words) arch-moonbat George Monbiot: "George Monbiot, a British public intellectual, speaks for many when he says, 'The American model has become an American nightmare rather than an American dream.'"

The article opines (53 words): Blinded by its own myth, America has grown incapable of recognizing its flaws. For there is much about the American Dream to fault. If the rest of the world has lost faith in the American model—political, economic, diplomatic—it's partly for the very good reason that it doesn't work as well anymore.

The Hell with moonbat George. Things are not merry in Europe as well. The Hell with Newsweek and all those who like to justify Newsweek's obvious anti-American efforts. They are encouraging our enemies.

That's pretty typical from a leftist -- the failure to pay attention. Also typical is mendacious agitprop. It's not just a "different cover," it's that the article was omitted altogether from the US domestic edition.

Bojack: As for those anonymous cowards on this talkback suggesting that the 9/11 terrorist scum should have aimed for the Newsweek, NYT, TIME buildings, I give you a big ole American redwhite and blue, flag waving, mom and apple-pie-eating middle finger. You should be ashamed.

For a guy calling himself Bojack to describe the other posters here anonymous cowards is pretty amusing. It takes no bravery to defend Newsweek - Americans don't kill people who disagree with them. As to giving America your middle finger, get in line - Pepsico's CFO beat you to it last week, as have numerous other American publications, including Newsweek.

I agree that the articles run overseas would be more valuable here. At the same time, I'm a little sick of the mainstream media acting like such wusses. It speaks badly of their opinion of us if they're afraid to show us their front sides but not their backsides.

A question for all you tin-foil hat caterwauling media haters: How did the media get MAINSTREAM and what keeps it there? Wake up from your Fox/Rush/Blogsterbation coma and think about it. MSM indeed. As bad as newspapers and magazines of record are, they're THE BEST WE HAVE. Newsweek, the NY Times etc are mainstream because they assiduously reflect mainstream opinion! Why aren't Murdoch's rags "mainstream"? America is a free country and theres billionaire right-wingers all over the place. Why can't you folks just be happy owning all kinds of newspapers. At the end of the day, you can't take the fact that liberals even exist. Your vision is of a world in which every single word about Iraq is about how wonderful the U.S. military is. Anything that deviates is some kind of evil conspiracy. What a load of garbage! Likewise, if, as one poster here suggests, academic culture is such crap, why don't the moral rocket scientists of the right have any major universities they control? I can tell you why: because they just aren't the rocket scientists they think they are. I went to a university that's as right wing as they come: Pepperdine: They hire every right wing nut case they can to sit in big leather chair at the law school: Robert Bork, Ken Starr and so on...But, hey, guess what: academically the suck and everyone knows it!! They're so busy either congratulating themselves on how great their "moral values are" or criticizing others for how weak theirs are, they have no time left for actual academic research! Again: just ask yourself: Where's Murdoch's Japanese edition of "The Weekly Standard."? Where's the international distribution for The New York Post? Right, it doesn't exist because those publications are for the most part written and edited for people with an insatiable need to tell themselves how great they and their country are. Sorry MSM haters, but that just doesn't translate to people outside your thought bubble...

and...Stinkerr: get thee to a dictionary. Stinkerr writes: "... Bush is aliterate...""...or if he's just a life-long aliterate...

Pot meet Kettle

Posted by StinKerr''

aliterate refers to people, such as Bush, who chose not to read.perhaps you are confusing that with illiterate, which refers to people who cannot read, or alliterate, which refers to the use of words that begin with the same syllable. At any rate, I'm waiting for your apology...

1. Sloppy journalists have no credibility wherein the critique of our nation on a global scale is concerned.2. Newsweek, still reeling from the debacle, was in no place to criticize. It would not be received here.3. It says nothing of the relative truth of the article. Let's step outside ourselves for a minute, and think about how we look with a fresh set of eyes. Never done that? Don't worry--most Americans don't feel obligated to, and therein lay the problem.4. There is something neatly ironic, previous debacle aside, about writing a (I suppose, I haven't read it) hard-hitting critique of America's relationship to the world, distributing it to aforementioned world...while actual Americans are spoon-fed the Hollywood drivel they crave, and sady, often deserve. Martha Soccermon in Denver doesn't want to hear how we're doing, or how much we may be hated. She just doesn't want to be late for church.

I have nothing to say regarding the merit of the article itself. But I find the sociological factors in its presentation, and lack thereof, fascinating. Looking at the political covers, vs. the US edition...come on. There's some meaning there. I think we're missing the ball.

Gabriel writes:1. Sloppy journalists have no credibility wherein the critique of our nation on a global scale is concerned. Hard to argue with that, but it just doesn't apply to Newsweek, a global organization with hundreds of writers and editors. Even if you agree that the Koran piece was "sloppy," which I don't, that has nothing whatsoever to do with the cover story with the sacred sackcloth of myopic self-righteousness, aka Old Glory, trashed. The ``America is dead'' article was written by a different journalist for a different audience in a different magazine and edited by a different editor. To suggest that because one journalist got something wrong, the magazine should somehow take on a strictly pro-American bias is just plain silly. Again: one poster here suggested that Newsweek did not actually "vet" the Koran piece with the Defense Dept. If that's true, then indeed, we could use the word "sloppy" as regards the Koran story. But what's worse, that kind of sloppiness, or having the guy who's running the war (Rumsfeld) saying: "Watch what you say.'' Wake up, folks, the self-aggrandizement and edification needs of tin-foil right wing bloviators are INSATIABLE. They will not shut up until every single word in print tells them how they're the greatest people, the greatest country and the greatest leaders the planet has ever known. It's no surprise, indeed, that Fox/Rush/Blogsterbation fans have such a gaping need for journalism that reminds them what fabulous people they really are: because without those reminders, they may not like what they actually see in the mirror...

I have posted to several blogs that Newsweek has been an enemy of America for at least 3 decades. The response has been less than credulous. I read overseas news services daily, then cross compare their stories and headlines to US news service headlines. Enough to make you dizzy. I have quit trying to point out these inconsistent veiw points. Why scream at a rock, it will never hear you.

Hey 2Hotel9: stop whining! Maybe you should scream less and think more. Why are you so horrified that people disagree with your "30-year" analysis of the media? Where's your courage of conviction? If you're right, you're right. Stick to showing us how smart you are instead of cooking up some tin-foil media conspiracy theory about how nobody listens. What evidence have you got that you're any smarter than the average elite-mainstream-America-hating guy who just wants his country to shitcan militarism.

Funny how the tin-foil hat right-wingers TALK a good game about freedom. But when someone has a view that differs from theirs and tries to publish it, the get "physically nauseated." Show a little intellectual decency, fer chrissakes and stop whining! Where in your civics textbook does it say people can't vociferously disagree with you? Where does it say every single magazine has to make you feel good about yourself and your parents, even if they were soldiers...??

Bunkerbuster: I'm not trashing Newsweek, per se. The Koran piece was sloppy...but really, we've done much worse. Maybe the real issue is that when Newsweek told the post-Abu Ghraib world that we were flushing Korans...no one was surprised. Hell, I've seen 'em do worse at Pentecostal youth camps.

To others:As far as Old Glory being trashed...Keep your icons in check--it was an artistic statement. If I were a Christian, and I saw a picture of a crucifix in a trash can, with the title "Is the Church losing sight of Christ?", I would be smart enough to realize that the picture, in context was not anti-christian. Likewise, the photo--in context--made a similar statement. Just like Christians worship Christ and not the crucifix, we, as Americans, serve our country, and not just its iconography. The map is not the territory. Your fathers or forefathers did not die for a flag, they died for a nation. The flag represents us, and the opinion that we are going downhill as a country is a valid opinion, whether it's accurate or not.

Nice point, Gabriel. I'm wondering how long America can go on like this with the Rush/Fox folks getting more and more self-involved in their deepening sense of victimhood. Is their need for self-congratulation ever satsified? Does their inability to acknowledge the legitimacy of any criticism know any bounds? or are we headed down the slimey slope to authoritarianism?

Yours was my favorite blog even before you jumped right on point with the Newsweek covers. I was hooked since I read your "ohashi jozu" retort. Let's not forget that Newsweek is one with the Washington Post; the Post whose editor told a Chinese "journalist" that America shouldn't be the world leader, the Post whose Anthony Shadid writes about the heroes of Falluja (no, not our troops), the Post which routinely refers to Al-Jazeera as a fair and balanced news source, with all of its sick anti-semetic posts (no, not anti-Zionist or anti-Israel, rank Jew hating)...I'm sick already. Anyway, rock on...

I think what is the most infuriating thing about the article and cover story is the overall context. Let's go back farther than most of our lifetimes to the Marshall Plan. Then as we move forward, let's count all of the economic assistance and disaster relief we committed. How many lives have been saved through American innovation? This makes America an easy target for overseas interests. It's not the local government's fault your life sucks, it's all America's fault. It worked for the Ayatollah's in Iran. Bite the hand that feeds you and what happens? You don't get fed anymore. And then we get blamed for abandoning the third world. Is it any wonder protectionist and isolationist bills have started appearing in congress?

``let's count all of the economic assistance and disaster relief we ommitted.''

And how, exactly, does this grant any kind of immunity to criticism? Context, indeed: The point of the article isn't that America is a worthless nation, but, rather, that other countries no longer see it in the same positive light that they once did (in the Marshall plan days, for example). Every poll I've seen shows this to be a simple fact: the world hates Bush and what he's doing to America. Why shouldn't magazines report that? Why is the need for self-congratulation so huge in America that factual, critical analysis is deemed out of bounds?? Look, Fox/Rush/the Wall Street Journal and to some extent CNN are pumping red-white-and-blue we love you crapola 24/7. Isn't that enough for you? Do you really need to every single magazine, newspaper, TV, Internet and radio outlet feeding your need for reminders of how ineffably fabulous your country and people are?? what would it take to satisfy you guys?

The Marshall plan, fer chrissakes. How about the Vietnam War? How about U.S. support for Israel and fascistic governments gone by from Indonesia to Chile and Iran. How is that "anonymous" can write a post whining that we get no respect without even so much of a mention of the massively fatal misadventures like Vietnam and Nicaragua? Maybe anonymous thinks these invasions were all justified. Still, is the bubble that thick that he or she can't even acknowledge that a lot of people are bound to see the 3 million dead in Vietnam as at least partially the U.S.'s fault? No, not inside this moronic Blogsterbation fantasy world where we don't even mention little things like atomic bombs, agent orange and Ollie North's terrorism cartoon book. Instead, we "look back" at the Marshall Plan and wonder why, oh why, can't the world see how almighty wonderful the U.S. is. Please, give it a rest. Americans are simply human with all the flaws that implies. Our history just isn't perfect and has plenty of room for improvement. I for one, celebrate criticism of U.S. history, because my beliefs in the fundamentals are unshakable and the ability to acknoledge criticism and even learn from it is one of the foremost hallmarks of strength and intellectual integrity.

Since you ask, what would satisfy me is if people who hated America would just say so, and I would prefer it in this form: "Even though I live in (New York, LA, New Haven, CT...) and/or the sphere of protection of (Canada, Europe, Japan...)the greatest country ever created by man and woman, only great because it is a (sometimes failed)quest to expand freedom and liberty to the widest stretch of humanity possible, even though I live in (fill in the blank, almost any country will do) which was saved 60 years ago from totalitarian rule by farm boys from Kansas, I still hate America and will do my best to undermine its attempt to give women the vote and instill the concept of minority rights and religious freedom worldwide. Furthermore,(this is for the poeople who come from run down kleptocracy type countries) I reserve the right to attend an elite American univeristy and (those with a few million and/or tenure)call myself a liberal. If people like the editor of Newsweek International would just say that, I would be happy to let them print whatever they want.

Newsweek, run by spoiled rotten white boys who were spoon fed until they graduated from Columbia, is just trying to cash in on the anti-American feeding frenzy. It comforts the Japanese and Europeans to think America is passe, when their own socialist systems can't even sustain themselves without American investors pumping dollars into their stagnant economies. America is dead? That's funny, I thought Europe was dead--just ask any European PhD graduate....

Hey Mario, better check up on your investments, if you have any. You may be having some trouble counting: U.S. Treasury figures show Japan's central bank owns almost a third of all U.S. government debt, while the Federal Reserve owns, um, something less that a single, slim percent of Japan's debt. China has a similarly massive slice of U.S. debt. So, no, these countries aren't staying afloat courtesy of the U.S, indeed, the facts show it's EXACTLY the opposite. But again, your insatiable need to believe in your own greatness is noted.

And thanks, TokyoBK for acknowledging your gaping need to be reminded continuously that your countrymen fought in WWII. Get over it, dude. You and your country are not the be-all end-all of greatness. How about just a little bit of humility, then. Isn't that a sign of strength? A lot of other countries love democracy, free speech and separation of church state as much or more than you do. I know I love American ideals just as much or more than you and tin-foil hat right-wing crowd, I just have a different interpretation of what, exactly, they amount to and how to keep them from being destroyed. Why doesn't it occur to you that the people at Newsweek love their country and one reason they're so angry about what's going on is that they sincerely believe Cheney-Bush are trampling on the values of free speech, free thought, fiscal responsibility, geopolitical responsibility and fundamental honesty? That's what I believe and the only reason I bother to comment about it is that I love the U.S., my country, not because I hate it. Do I care if some mullah is preaching nonsense in some shitehole somewhere? No, not even a little bit. They are no significant threat, other than in their ability to whip up the kind of paranoia the Bush adminstration thrives on and prompts guys like Rumsfeld to tell me to "watch what i say."

Everyone:It's amazing how "non-shalant" a lot of you are about the American flag being in a trash can. Yet these same people are in an uproar about "heresay" evidence that a Muslim holy book was flushed. Would the same media outlets complain about a Holy Bible being desecrated by a Muslim militant? Doubtful. It's a sad day in America when the American media cares more about the "feelings" of a group of people that have declared they want ALL of us and our kids dead, than the people who are protecting the freedom they have. I wonder if they realize that everytime they print this crap, more people die, mainly Americans. I understand that they're upset about losing the election, and they hate Bush, but there should be a line drawn somewhere. There's freedom of speech and there's treason. And if treason is legal then we should just lay down our weapons and welcome everyone to this country with open arms. First of all, if anyone figures out how to flush a book of that size down a toilet, then they should contact Ripley's, because it's impossible to do so. Second, last time I checked, yeah we in America are free to do as we please BUT, when we are at war, (and we ARE even though it's not disrupting your precious FREE lives), anything you do to bring comfort and/or aid to the enemy is TREASON. Wow, we haven't had to use that part of the law recently. But I guess since we have a new breed of anti-American-isim from the extreme left, we need to remind everyone that freedom is NOT free. So anyone giving comfort and aid to the enemy by whatever means should be rounded up and put on trial for treason. One other thing that bothers me and I'll stop typing: Where are all the Muslim-Americans, and how do they feel about the be-headings of people and the killings of Muslims-by-Muslims?

Is it just me, or is this sort of discussion the very sort of thing that our beleagered troops are fighting to defend?

Is it just me, or is this sort of discussion the best possible outcome of anything that's going on right now, regardless of who's right?

Whine towards freedom. Bicker to victory.

If this were not America, this would not be possible. Let's keep our country, ney, our way of life alive: keep the debate boxes alive. "Allah" doesn't like it. "Jesus" likely hates it. And if we can't transcend our Invisible Men, we deserve to be ruled over by much worse.

This might come as a surprise to many with the United States, but the views being published by Newsweek (not something I'd ever bother to read personally) accurately represent what most people outside the US think.

Even within close US allies like the UK and Australia most people find the Bush administration repulsive. Outside the anglo world the hostility is much greater (and growing).

America should once again embrace real freedom and democracy, not the new form of fascism practiced by the present government that has dragged america's once bright reputation into the gutter.

Chris K writes:1. ``It's amazing how "non-shalant" a lot of you are about the American flag being in a trash can.''BB responds: It's telling that you're "amazed" that people hold views that are radically different from your own. I find it both simple and wholly unamazing to draw the important distinction between a principle and a piece of colored cloth people use to symbolize those principles. More important, perhaps, I don't agree with the politics of people who wrap themselves in the U.S. flag: so from my point of view that flag, ALSO at this moment in history, represents repression, greed and nationalist bigotry. Perhaps Chris K disagrees and believes that the flag represents only the wonderful humanity and endless social wisdom of people who agree with him. That is fine, I will not contend against his right to hold that view, let alone profess to be ''amazed'' that someone would look to civics and geopolitics as a source of self-esteem maintanence. If Chris wants to challenge the factual basis of my views, he should first offer to learn about them instead of confessing that he's so far in the tank that he's "amazed" people don't agree with him about what the flag means and whether or not it's something that needs the reverence something like a religious symbol does. Chris K writes: ``Yet these same people are in an uproar about "heresay" evidence that a Muslim holy book was flushed.'' Who's in an uproar? If Newsweek writes a tiny item about it, it means they are in an "uproar?" I can speculate that I speak for the common sense faction when I say tha the uproar is that evidence of atrocities continue to emerge from illegal U.S. prisons in Gitmo and elsewhere and that the U.S. military, from Cmdr. Boykin to the Chief hisself have shown criminally stupid insensitivity to wacky muslim values. Even if you agree, as I do, that the whole jihad thing is vile nonsense, you can still see how stupid it is to take liberties with religioius symbols of people who will blow themselves up at the drop of a hat. Chris K writes: ``Would the same media outlets complain about a Holy Bible being desecrated by a Muslim militant?''

Firstly, Newsweek wasn't "complaining" it was reporting what someone said was going to be in a government report. Secondly, this sort of unfounded speculation is the classic "Are you still beating your wife'' kind of logic. Self-negating, obviously, but somehow alluring to the thickheaded and ideologically needy. Lastly, I doubt many Christians would riot based on a report someone somewhere defiled their favorite book. But hey, I'll be alive for at least a few more decades. If the drift toward religious authoritarianism in the U.S. doesn't abate, someday, will be as violently freaky as the jihadis. Then, Chris K, you won't have to worry about pesky magazines "amazing" you with dispresect for your psuedo-religious symbols of nationalism.

Geez: confession time: I didn't until just now read down to the part of Chris K's post where he suggests mass treason trials as a way to help out the troops in Iraq. My apologies to Riding Sun for wasting people's time by responding. It wasn't my intent to dignify his hysteria with a response.

Thanks for reporting this outrage. I am shocked and appalled that Newsweek had the gall to criticise our glorious homeland. We need stronger laws to stop this sort of thing. What authority do Newsweek think they have to pass judgement on what we're doing in Iraq - they have a major case of hubris. They should leave all the decisions up to the President, whom we elected to make those judgements for us. War isn't pretty, but you have to be mature and not go investigating and reporting the bad side all the time, because then it becomes very difficult to keep fighting and get the job done.

I can understand that American pride is seen as Yankee jingoism, and sometimes it is. Of course America did not win the second war alone but it did over the course of the 20th Century stand singularly against tyranny. There was the Pope and Maggie thcher who has cast iron balls like no one except Bush II, but most of Europe is weak and cowardly. France thinks calling a walkman a "balladeur" is winning some kind of war when it should be looking to the US for advice as to how to assimilate foreign born populations. And America fought this war with guns as much as ideology. What if MacArthur did not throw our former allies, the Russians, out of Japan. Hokkaido would be North Japan and it would look something like North Korea, gulags and starving babies and all. So, yes, in terms of there never being yet a power so strong that has weilded that power so judiciously and for the good of so many different kinds of people, America is indeed the end all be all, so far, in human history. One last note; Mr. Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International, left his native India and attended both Yale and Harvard, where if anyone had dared speak ill of his native country or religion (Islam) they would be expelled or ridiculed and certainly expelled to the margins of campus life. I certainly support his right to run his magazine however he sees fit, but I also think he is the worst kind of coward, who thinks himself on a singular mission to correct the percieved arrogance of America, the country that more than any has supported him his way of life.

Where I live, there is really only one bookstore that carries foreign print materials, so I'd missed this--and I'm glad. The relentless anti-Americanism is depressing. Issues of Hiragana Times , a magazine for Japanese language learners, even has readers' columns that spout such nuttiness (I recall one, by an Australian, about how the Americans were very evil, one proof being their alleged development of the expression "collateral damage" to refer to civilian casualties). And don't even get me started on the Japan Times editorials page where, for example, a sap from Hawaii writes in about how the real trouble in East Asia isn't North Korea but the US that has prevented reunification. I'd say unbelievable, but it's sadly not.

You Know, I am not inclined to disagree with Newsweek altogether. I Love my country but I am not sure it isn't being taken away. If you have looked at that image and thought of how Bush and the Neocons, you too may agree.

I'd say George Bush and his Cronies have squarely beat the flag and placed it in the trash can. Newsweek merely photographed it. Framed as such, I'd say it's an accurate depiction. I'd say Newsweek is spanking the US Government in markets from where they cannot be censored.

And here's an idea for wackos who get "depressed" when they have to read about the fact that people don't agree with their political views: move to North Korea. There you'll be safe from each and every opinion that contradicts the official government line. And should pajama boy Kim decide to start another war, you won't have to tolerate any pesky "elites" pointing to any faults at all. No sir, the only words finding print will be just like you want: rammed straight out of the governments bowels and straight down your throat.

bunkerbuster:Very nice of you to spend so much time "busting my bunker". :) And although you quoted me on the flag issue you still didn't get it, and you think I'm "amazed" that people have a different view than me. But if you actually read the sentence, you'll see that I was "amazed" that some of these people don't respect our American flag. I guess I should have mentioned that not even 25 years ago it was considred very disrespectful to let the flag touch the ground, much less be thrown in the trash. But bunkerbuster obviously doesn't remember the days where respect of the flag wasn't a point of view in America but a standard. So, to sit there and make a whole paragraph about how I'm "amazed" that no-one agrees with my political views when I actually said; ``It's amazing how "non-shalant" a lot of you are about the American flag being in a trash can.'', is pretty paranoid.

Then I wrote:``Yet these same people are in an uproar about "heresay" evidence that a Muslim holy book was flushed.'' bunkerbuster writes: "Who's in an uproar?" Dude are you living under a rock? Every media outlet in the world is in an uproar because the evil Americans are 'disrespecting' Muslims "again." Then bunkerbuster wrote this: "I can speculate that I speak for the common sense faction when I say tha the uproar is that evidence of atrocities continue to emerge from illegal U.S. prisons in Gitmo and elsewhere and that the U.S. military, from Cmdr. Boykin to the Chief hisself have shown criminally stupid insensitivity to wacky muslim values."Are you serious? "Illegal prisons"? How is Gitmo prison illegal? And what evidence are you talking about? And oh, you're talking about the abuse at Abu Grai(spell?) and "elsewhere". News flash: The people responsible for prisoner abuses are being prosecuted. So don't worry bunkerbuster, those evil guards will get whats coming to them.And as far as the reference I made about treason, I knew I was going to get that kind of reaction from you just by reading your previous posts.

Then bunkerbuster wrote:''If the drift toward religious authoritarianism in the U.S. doesn't abate, someday, will be as violently freaky as the jihadis. Then, Chris K, you won't have to worry about pesky magazines "amazing" you with dispresect for your psuedo-religious symbols of nationalism.''My psuedo-religious symbols of nationalism? How in the world did you get that from my statement about disrespecting the flag?bunkerbuster seems to think that my post was "hysteria", mainly because I gave the definition of treason in my previous post and pointed out the fact that we haven't prosecuted that law in a long time. Probably because people like bunkerbuster would hire a team of lawyers and say that it's his "right" to give aid and comfort to the enemy. So bunkerbuster, although it was very nice of you to "bust my bunker", I think you are the one that is paranoid and looking for any reason to slam America. And I noticed you commented on everything I posted except the beheadings, because my "hysteria" over the flag and treason is far more worthy, and easier to tackle right? Or, you just have no opinion on the beheadings, or worse.

All we need to do now is do away with the U.S. Constitution, gun rights, Christian beliefs and moral values. Then the rest of the world might like us. And that's what the main goal is. Peace, and the hope that one day we can all live in love and harmony together... Yeah, that's going to happen.

Newsweek is wrong, and was (IMO) criminally negligent when they published their articles about the Qur'an without verification, leading to the deaths of several, and much Anti-American action. Read my opinions (and feel free to flame me) at www.OpinionSalad.com

Gaijinbiker, you've done all your American readers a service by bringing to our attention the Japanese Newsweek version of Andrew Moravcsik's "Dream on America" article. It is frankly appalling that Newsweek wilted from the challenge of presenting an important reality-check piece such as this from the US edition – to protect our global interests we need to know how others around the world perceive us. May I suggest you do your readers an even greater service by adding a link to the English version (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6857387/site/newsweek/), so they can get past the Japanese cover you present to see what the article is all about?

People should keep in mind that the article is at its core simply a report of the perception of the declining importance of the US in the world; it is unfortunate but undeniable that this perception is well-supported by many statistics showing an accelerating decline in the relative standing of the US in many important areas that affect our global power. We need to pull our heads out of the sand and start asking difficult questions about what we are doing wrong and what we should do to get back on track, for our own sake (whether the rest of the world looks up to us is another point).

2) Even when in effect, the 1989 act did not apply to illustrations of flags.

3) In any event, the 1989 act states that "[t]his subsection does not prohibit any conduct consisting of the disposal of a flag when it has become worn or soiled." You see where I am going here?

4) And as far as a flag protection amendment, I can think of no better use of congressional time and resources. Soon American Idol will be over and we will need another distraction from the escalating body count of American soldiers in Iraq.

The free press is vital but its right on that its these pussies at Newsweek who best showcase the vogue for America bashing by the people who benefit most from this country`s power to protect modern rights from the backassward of the world. Mr. Fareed, editor of Newsweek International and wine-loving bon vivant, in your native country, following the dictates of your religion as enforced by its adherents in every country on which it holds sway, you would be editor of what magazine, free to write, think, drink, what? You would have gone to which elite schools which assured you rights of thought and civil protections as a minority? You came to and prospered in America for a reason, so what`s the deal here?

Love your sense of humor, welcoming those raving lunatics from Instapundit and LGF. The good news is that liberal blog site DailyKos has a link to you also, so you should get some help swatting those LGF buzzing flies!

And there's even more good news: Scott McClellan has just recanted the Newsweek smear . I wonder where that leaves the Freepers at reich wing sites such as InstaWrong and LGF.

Since then, the Jan/Feb 05 Japanese trashcan edition has been exposed [here by Gaijinbiker] and last night (5/23/05), I saw that his name actually appears on both the cover pages of the 1/31/05 Int'l edition in English and the US edition.

Do you have links for the data you wrote above: "Zakaria family… known jihadi supporters" ? If this is common knowledge in India, is there specific data you could link please? Does the family support any specific jihadi groups financially or otherwise?

PPS – For example, here's one link on Tabassum Zakaria – a March 2001 article going into great detail on CIA 's computer tracking capabilities of terrorists: (This was pre-9/11)

"So for example if a broadcast by Saudi-exile Osama bin Laden, whom the CIA considers a major threat to Americans, was transcribed and labeled, every time his voice was detected the computer would automatically label it."

I'm still waiting to hear a single word from Gaijin Biker or anyone else on this blog about the content of the Newsweek article in question. I see no factual errors in it and it all seems perfectly rational to me. But I'm just one opinion. It's disappointing the Gaijin Biker, et al, have no rebuttal, no rejoinder, no real, mature response to the Newsweek article. Surely, the articulate, prolific thinkers here have some critique, some insight, some facts that show Newsweek's article is inaccurate or irrational in some way.

Enough whining self-pity already about yourFEELINGS of betrayal, etc. Instead of discussion about WHY and HOW Newsweek's article is wrong, all we get here is juvenile remarks about, that one's born abroad and likes wine. This one's "elite" that one's "effete" the staff of Newsweek are "middle class white boys." C'mon, which one of you has a word to say about what's in the Newsweek article. You want to worship America? Then shoot down the Newsweek article. Surely it's facts are wrong or it's analysis in err. Show us how! Or start, at least, by giving the juvenile insults about nationality, class and race a rest...

Cool Gaijin Biker. I'm sure that some parts of the article warrant more scrutiny than they've received so far. I thought the article was a bravura piece of news analysis, developing its thesis directly from the polling data and news events, rather than the other way around. That data are in: America's reputation abroad has plummeted under Bush, and it did so from an unprecedented peak just after the Sept. 11 attacks. The caterwauling here on Gaijin Biker shows that an extremely vocal portion of America cannot accept basic criticism of their country. I think it's rational to conclude that vociferous attempts to delegitimize criticism, rather than rebut it, are unhealthful for democracy and reflect a profound intellectual insecurity and desperation. But all these points are developed much more carefully in the Newseek article. I hope Gaijin Bikers promotion of the piece will gain it as wide a readership as possible. Indeed, the most important audience is in America, where it is a shame Newsweek lacked the courage to print it.

GB: the article you link to above contains some key factual errors. It says U.S per capita GDP is 30 percent more than Sweden's. It's actually 3 percent more, in other words, virtually the same. References to high unemployment in Europe relative to that of the U.S. are also off the mark. Sweden's unemployment is 5.5% compared with 5.2% in the U.S. Is that what Sweden pays for all that welfare? A 3% difference in GDP per capita and 0.3 percentage points of unemployment. I'm sure you'd agree that's a bargain. (I do think the morality of welfare is debatable, but that's a completely different subject.) I recall reading on this very blog that the blogosphere corrects itself. GB, help me out here: let's make sure the article you linked to above doesn't spread the fuzzy math any further than it already has. Firstly, I'd suggest you delink it from here, then, you may want to point out the errors to the author...

"I recall reading on this very blog that the blogosphere corrects itself. GB, help me out here: let's make sure the article you linked to above doesn't spread the fuzzy math any further than it already has."

Well, bunkerbuster, by calling attention to the statistics in the post, you yourself are playing a part in the blogosphere's self-correcting mechanism.

But to really make it work, you've got to provide links to credible sources for your assertions. So, let's see your links to Swedish GDP and unemployment rates.

If you are indeed correct, that would certainly be a fact to take into consideration while reading PixyMisa's post. But I would not de-link it all together, because it makes many other points that do not depend on Swedish economic data.

Fuck Bush....there....to your face....it brings joy to my eyes when I read that US soldiers were killed. How many tears do we shed for Iraqi civilians killed?

Posted by hehe

Anonymous.......... Does it also bring joy to your eyes that more liberal bong huggers are killed in America over narcotics. It makes Iraq look like only a crack house in detroit.

Liberals are good at hiding there fears of whats to come.And this will be there downfall, as they are growing desperate and taking cowardly cheap shots at the enemy! But wait",it's not foreign,but domestic in nature.

When Iraq is liberated and standing on it's own,only then will they switch back to gun control and ,"well I told you so"!

But the American flags are headed back to the classrooms in "Every state in the union",and this will start a new generation of patriotism in America. She will once more stand tall and be blessed by "ALL".

Well, as it turns out, Ambient Irony does have a leg to stand on, though it's a shamefully thin one. He used PPP adjusted GDP statistics, which do show Sweden's GDP in the range of 30 percent less than that of the U.S. But, those very same statistics show that Norway's GDP per capita is virtually the same as that of the U.S., a fact that clearly contradicts AmbientIrony's theme. The omission of that also raises questions about AmbientIrony's intellectual integrity. Moreover, according to PPP adjusted figures, China's economy is the world's second-largest!! So go figure. And...I'd just love to hear what GB thinks the "other" good points made in the rambling diatribe by AmbientIrony. My reading is that the only factual point he had was based on his highly selective, PPP adjusted GDP per capita figures. If Newsweek was one-tenth as sloppy, rhetorical or counterfactual as AmbientIrony, the MSM-haters would be having a field day. As it is, every fact presented in the Newsweek piece stands and if it doesn't, you can be sure Newsweek will publish a correction, whereas AmbientIrony will hide behind dubious statistical interpretations.

GB writes: But to really make it work, you've got to provide links to credible sources for your assertions. So, let's see your links to Swedish GDP and unemployment rates.Really? Is that a double standard, or am I missing something. AmbientIrony provides no links to his few spare, and as I point out, misleading factual claims. None of the anti-Newsweek diatribes here alleging inaccuracies link to any factual sources. None, not one. Then, when someone points out an inaccuracy, or, in this case, what turns out to be a dubious statistical interpretation, you insist on links. Here's the deal: either you're interested in actually knowing the economic facts about U.S. economic performance relative to Sweden, et.al. or you're not. If you can't be bothered to Google for it yourself, I think that's a pretty good sign that you're more interested in being "right" ideologicallyi than in knowing the facts.

Justin case anyone's interested: Here's the response to the Newsweek article GB links too above. It's on a blog called Ambient Irony. Apparently, it has been the porno de jure in the circle jerk that is right-wing blogland.Just to give a clearer idea of how dogmatic, nuance-challenged, foul-mouthed and self-involved the author is, I've excerpted his comments only, cutting out the parts of the Newsweek article he comments on.

Excerpted from the Ambient Irony blog:

Now Can We Question Their Patriotism?Well, yeah, we noticed that. Anti-Americanism goes hand-in-hand with social and economic dysfunction. Fuck you too, Newsweek. Yes. Democracy - bad! Free markets - bad! International institutions - well, if you're talking about QUANGOs - the U.N., the World Bank, IMF and suchlike, I'm inclined to grant you that one.But there's a certain irony when Newsweek is saying they hate us because of our freedom. About 8.5 on the Irony Richter Scale, I'd say. Most of which have been proven not to work. That is a bizarrely twisted statement. America didn't invent democracy or free markets, though it did give them some unprecedented guarantees in its Constitution. Since the year that document was signed, France has changed its form of government - not just the ruler or leader, but the very nature of the government itself - twelve times.The made-in-America product seems to be somewhat more reliable than what many European countries have managed, with the exception perhaps of Britain. I won't even mention Latin America. Along with high taxes, high unemployment, low economic growth, negative population growth. Yes, who needs civil rights? Sadly, this includes my beloved Australia, which is in alignment with the freedoms America espouses in almost every other respect. The death penalty is not, I would think, a key part of the American dream. Hang the bastard, electrocute him, let him sit in jail until he rots - whatever. And that is the problem. Adequate social welfare is not a basic right. This is where the UN Declaration on Human Rights also goes off the rails. You guarantee adequate social welfare by taking money from someone and giving it to someone else. That's not a right, that's redistribution.A right is something that someone has unless you forcibly take it away. Freedom of speech. Freedom of assembly. Freedom of religion. The right to own property. The right to bear arms. You can't give any of those to someone, because you're born with them.Welfare payments aren't something that every human is born with; they aren't in any way a right. That doesn't mean they're wrong, or a bad idea, though poorly planned they can (and do) lead to economic disaster. They can be analysed as an investment, as insurance, as a maintenance cost, but they are not a right. And a growing sense that the rest of the world is nuts. The Geneva Conventions specifically state that they do not apply to terrorists. That whole bit about illegal combatants? Straight out of the Geneva Convention. Read Bill Whittle's essay, Sanctuary for an explanation of what the Geneva Convention is designed to protect. I haven't read that, I must admit. Hang on while I do. Right, as I thought. Article 17, state interference in the media. Article 26, conflation of human rights and socialism. Article 27, ditto. Article 28, more of the same. Article 29, wank. Articles 43-45, interfering busybodies. Not bad compared to the Declaration on Human Rights, but ample reason not to ratify - unless you don't intend to uphold the Convention in the first place. That one has been amply dealt with elsewhere. (coupled with the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo)Yadda yadda. Damn straight, and a good thing too. Not as much as it should have been, but essentially true, and even more so in the past three decades. Oh, you noticed? The highest, among major states. Two points: First, it's a lot easier to double per-capita GDP from $1000 to $2000 than from $40,000 to $80,000.Second, guess where a lot of the money for that economic growth is coming from? Guess who's buying all those cheap goodies from Chinese factories? About bleeding time, given that it has four times the population. Why the hell not? You are assuming that since China's economy (for example) grew by 9.1% in 2004, that it will sustain that growth rate for another 35 years. Well that's one hell of an assumption. Is it, then? So it has, and the widening gap in standards of living highlights this. Indeed, Australia now has a higher per-capita GDP than any of the major European states. Rightly so, because they are going nowhere. Sadly, true. No it's not. Yeah, big surprise. Postwar Europe and Japan were economic basket cases, utterly destroyed by five years of insanity. And the reconstruction was extensively funded by - guess who? Yes. So? On what criteria, pray tell? A proper balance is not a problem. Seeing social welfare as a fundamental right is a problem. What lack of social protections? Exactly? Better primary education is questionable. More job security is only accurate in that once a company has hired someone, it is almost impossible to get rid of them. That makes companies reluctant to hire, and that leads to unemployment. Have you looked at European unemployment figures lately? They do not seem to be getting a very good return on their investment. Productivity throughout Europe, measured in per-capita GDP, is significantly lower than in America and growing more slowly. That means that no matter how you redistribute the pie, no matter where you decide is the proper balance, there's less pie to hand around. True Per capita, or per hour? Per capita, they clearly are far more productive. The statistics are perfectly clear; America's per-capita GDP is one-third or more higher than any of the major European nations. —nor happierSays who? buried as they are in household debtCompared to? They have more money than the Europeans, dumbass. We've already established that. available to Europeans for vacationYes. Europeans can take their summer holidays - while the elderly die in their thousands because they don't have air conditioning. But hey, they chose their proper balance. and international travel.For most Europeans, that's a two-hour drive. Another piercing insight there from Monbiot. I'm so glad Newsweek has editors. Holy crap. And guess what? Britain's economy has consistently achieved lower growth than America's. Britain's per-capita GDP is only three-quarters of America's, and the gap is growing. Because taking people's pie away and shuffling it about doesn't create any more pie.America is about making pie.Europe is about cutting the pie into ever-finer slices, and deciding who gets what based on an increasingly arbitrary set of rules. Per-capita GDP of Sweden is 30% lower than America, and growing more slowly. Two decades ago, the restructuring of U.S. industry was just beginning, and a CEO still had little to do and little at risk. That's changed. Since then, the rich have been getting richer, and the poor have been getting... richer too. The rich have been getting richer faster than the poor have, but I'm not at all convinced that that is a problem. Two points here. Maybe three. First, poverty in the U.S. is something that most countries in the world even today would not recognise as anything of the sort.Second, Sweden has economic classes? Isn't that illegal or something.Third, no-one ever said it should be easy to "rise out of the economic class into which you were born". It's a bit of a mouthful, anyway. What's immportant is that everyone has the opportunity, that there are no artificial barriers put in the way.I can't take any more of this. It just goes on and on in the same noxious, factually-challenged way.You want to know why people don't like America? I suggest that Newsweek has something to do with it.Oh, one last quote. Unfortunately, the only appropriate response to this bit is strange choking noises:

Bravo bunkerbuster....!? I guess... Why did you not put in the little "Newsweak " excerpts? That's ok. I'll do it for you.. Just to be fair to the remarks that you "disagree" with. Anyone could do the same with all of the ridiculous, smartass comments you've made on this one page alone. So I hope you don't think you're "holier than thou" just because someone didn't take the time to sift through all of your comments and point out the hateful remarks.

So here's the Newsweek excerpts bunkerbuster so kindly edited out of his latest post that had JUST the comments of someone on another blog...

The truth is that Americans are living in a dream world. Not only do others not share America's self-regard, they no longer aspire to emulate the country's social and economic achievements.

The loss of faith in the American Dream goes beyond this swaggering administration and its war in Iraq.

A President Kerry would have had to confront a similar disaffection, for it grows from the success of something America holds dear: the spread of democracy, free markets and international institutions—globalization, in a word.

Countries today have dozens of political, economic and social models to choose from.

Anti-Americanism is especially virulent in Europe and Latin America, where countries have established their own distinctive ways—none made in America.

Futurologist Jeremy Rifkin, in his recent book "The European Dream," hails an emerging European Union based on generous social welfare, cultural diversity and respect for international law—a model that's caught on quickly across the former nations of Eastern Europe and the Baltics.

In Asia, the rise of autocratic capitalism in China or Singapore is as much a "model" for development as America's scandal-ridden corporate culture.

Much in American law and society troubles the world these days. Nearly all countries reject the United States' right to bear arms as a quirky and dangerous anachronism.

They abhor the death penalty and demand broader privacy protections.

Above all, once most foreign systems reach a reasonable level of affluence, they follow the Europeans in treating the provision of adequate social welfare is a basic right.

All this, says Bruce Ackerman at Yale University Law School, contributes to the growing sense that American law, once the world standard, has become "provincial."

The United States' refusal to apply the Geneva Conventions to certain terrorist suspects to ratify global human-rights treaties such as the innocuous Convention on the Rights of the Child or to endorse the International Criminal Court (coupled with the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo)only reinforces the conviction that America's Constitution and legal system are out of step with the rest of the world.

The American Dream has always been chiefly economic—a dynamic ideal of free enterprise, free markets and individual opportunity based on merit and mobility.

Certainly the U.S. economy has been extraordinarily productive.

Yes, American per capita income remains among the world's highest.

Yet these days there's as much economic dynamism in the newly industrializing economies of Asia, Latin America and even eastern Europe.

All are growing faster than the United States. At current trends, the Chinese economy will be bigger than America's by 2040.

Whether those trends will continue is not so much the question.

Better to ask whether the American way is so superior that everyone else should imitate it. And the answer to that, increasingly, is no.

Much has made, for instance, of the differences between the dynamic American model and the purportedly sluggish and overregulated "European model."

Ongoing efforts at European labor-market reform and fiscal cuts are ridiculed.

Why can't these countries be more like Britain, businessmen ask, without the high tax burden, state regulation and restrictions on management that plague Continental economies? Sooner or later, the [conventional wisdom] goes, Europeans will adopt the American model—or perish.

Yet this is a myth.

For much of the postwar period Europe and Japan enjoyed higher growth rates than America.

Airbus recently overtook Boeing in sales of commercial aircraft, and the EU recently surpassed America as China's top trading partner.

This year's ranking of the world's most competitive economies by the World Economic Forum awarded five of the top 10 slots—including No. 1 Finland—to northern European social democracies.

Lorenzo Codogno, co-head of European economics at the Bank of America, believes the British, like Europeans elsewhere, "will try their own way to achieve a proper balance."

Certainly they would never put up with the lack of social protections afforded in the American system.

Europeans are aware that their systems provide better primary education, more job security and a more generous social net.

They are willing to pay higher taxes and submit to regulation in order to bolster their quality of life.

Americans work far longer hours than Europeans do, for instance.

But they are not necessarily more productive —nor happier buried as they are in household debt without the time (or money)available to Europeans for vacation and international travel.

George Monbiot, a British public intellectual, speaks for many when he says, "The American model has become an American nightmare rather than an American dream."

Just look at booming bri-tain.

Instead of cutting social welfare, Tony Blair's Labour government has expanded it. According to London's Centre for Policy Studies, public spending in Britain represented 43 percent of GDP in 2003, a figure closer to the Eurozone average than to the American share of 35 percent. It's still on the rise—some 10 percent annually over the past three years—at the same time that social welfare is being reformed to deliver services more efficiently.

The inspiration, says Giddens, comes not from America, but from social-democratic Sweden, where universal child care, education and health care have been proved to increase social mobility, opportunity and, ultimately, economic productivity.

In the United States, inequality once seemed tolerable because America was the land of equal opportunity. But this is no longer so. Two decades ago, a U.S. CEO earned 39 times the average worker; today he pulls in 1,000 times as much.

Cross-national studies show that America has recently become a relatively difficult country for poorer people to get ahead. Monbiot summarizes the scientific data: "In Sweden, you are three times more likely to rise out of the economic class into which you were born than you are in the U.S."

When the soviets withdrew from Central Europe, U.S. constitutional experts rushed in. They got a polite hearing, and were sent home. Jiri Pehe, adviser to former president Vaclav Havel, recalls the Czechs' firm decision to adopt a European-style parliamentary system with strict limits on campaigning. "For Europeans, money talks too much in American democracy. It's very prone to certain kinds of corruption, or at least influence from powerful lobbies," he says. "Europeans would not want to follow that route."

The truth is that Americans are living in a dream world.........

And that is what Newsweek magazine thinks of America. Of course America is where the magazine started. And the RIGHT to freedom of speech allowed them to write hate for the country that gave them the right.

So there ya go bunkerbuster... Hopefully your dislike for America will keep you from residing here.

Someone mentioned that the flag on the cover is a US flag, but the trash can is Japanese. TRASH CANS OF THIS TYPE ARE NORMALLY LIGHT BLUE AND PLASTIC. I've never seen such a trash can in Japan, except as part of an interior (or exterior) decorationin in businesses that try to present an American image. The brick-walled alley in the background also portrays an American image; brick buildings are also a rarity in Japan which is a country prone to earthquakes.

It's true that some of the Japanese msm is trying to get its readers to hate the US and shift towards Asia (that's what they like to call China), but it doesn't seem to be working. More people have realized that the US is the best ally we have, and it's a democracy without leaders killing people for simply saying something they don't like. Interesting though, that both countries seem to be afflicted with the same media malady - leftists who criticize seemingly out of hatred for their country. Japanese leftists use the same tactic of criticizing in foreign media instead of giving it straight to its own people. I wonder why. If they've got any constructive, criticism, they should be presenting it to those who count.

Is it that newsweek hates america? Or do they just hate the administration? Making America look bad to make the administration look bad is not a great idea.It's like telling the whole neighborhood your family sucks, just because your mother yelled at you for pissing on the toilet seat.

To all those trolls, bunkerbuster in particular, who routinely refer to the "right-wing" blogosphere as being masterbatory or just one giant circle jerk...I presume that you all read Daily Kos or Democratic Underground or any other left/liberal blog. I presume that you also notice how the commentators reinforce each other. One posts "Bush Lied" another posts "Right on..." and so forth. How, I ask you, is this any less of a circle jerk? Because the opinions expressed there agree with your own, and therefore are not just masterbation sessions? And isnt true that there is indeed a site that calls for "Masterbation for Peace" and "Masterbation, Not War!"In effect, who is participating in the real circle-jerk here?Aside from which, if you find so many things disagreeable on this site, then why expend so much energy posting to it?